Engaging Industry Personnel in the CASA Enterprise

协作自适应大气传感（CASA）中心是NSF目前资助的15个工程研究中心之一。CASA成立于2003年，其愿景是彻底改变我们观察，理解，预测和应对天气灾害的能力。我们建议通过创建分布式协作自适应传感（DCAS）网络来实现这一愿景，该网络可以在最终用户需求最大的地方和时间对大气进行采样。自2003年以来，CASA在基础研究、技术创新和系统集成方面做出了重大贡献，并开始展示所提出概念的力量。CASA的主要成就之一是在俄克拉荷马州设计、建造、部署和运行IP 1测试床。这个原型4节点雷达网络使我们能够测试我们的假设并验证我们的结果。各方面的研究都在取得进展，这一原型网络的进一步发展和扩大也在取得进展。我们希望我们的工作将为工业界和政府采用这一概念铺平道路，并在全国各地安装大量相互连接的小型雷达网络，提供前所未有的观测、预报、预警和应对危险天气事件的能力。我们的研究和发展计划将在2009年年度报告中详细描述。工业已经在CASA的建立和发展中发挥了重要作用，工业合作伙伴和工业咨询委员会以各种方式支持我们的活动。这一特殊的资助机会将使我们能够以更直接，有效和创新的方式参与CASA企业的行业。特别是，它将使我们有机会把校园里的工业人员与学术研究人员和学生密切合作的研究项目和我们的试验台。它还将使我们能够将工业过程和实践带入课堂。我们建议聘请一名全职研究工程师和几名兼职实践和创新教授，如下所述：研究工程师：聘请一名研究工程师，他将作为CASA团队的一部分工作，以加强我们的IP 1测试床的未来发展和扩展。这将使现代工业实践和专有技术直接转移到CASA的设计和操作。实践与创新教授：聘请几位行业专家谁可以：1）教育学术研究人员和学生如何成功地将技术转移到市场; 2）提供最先进的工业原理和实践，支持CASA的研究和系统工程教育活动的指令; 3）帮助建立系统工程学术课程。智力优势：研究和工程师以及实践和创新教授的加入将在CASA的研究和教育活动中发挥重要作用。经验丰富的行业人员与教师和学生的密切互动将改善我们的测试台的发展，加强我们的学术产品的发展，并协助我们的原型测试台的翻译，供政府和行业使用。更广泛的影响：CASA准备为观测，预报，预警和应对危险天气事件做出根本性的贡献。这项工作可以通过保护生命、减少伤害和提高生活质量，对社会产生非常重大的积极影响。

Project SummaryThe Collaborative Adaptive Sensing of the Atmosphere (CASA) Center is one of the 15 currently funded NSF Engineering Research Centers. CASA was established in 2003 with a vision to revolutionize our ability to observe, understand, predict and respond to weather hazards. We proposed to realize this vision by creating Distributed Collaborative Adaptive Sensing (DCAS) networks that sample the atmosphere where and when end-user needs are greatest. Since 2003 CASA has made significant contributions to basic research, technology innovation and system integration and has begun to demonstrate the power of the proposed concept. One of the major accomplishments of CASA is the design, construction, deployment and operation of the IP1 test bed in Oklahoma. This prototype 4-node radar network is allowing us to test our hypotheses and validate our results. Research is progressing on all fronts and so is the further development and expansion of this prototype network. Our hope is that our work will pave the way for industry and the government to adopt the concept and install a large number of interconnected networks of small radars across the nation, coast-to-coast, providing unprecedented ability to observe, forecast, warn, and respond to hazardous weather events.Our research and development plan going forward is described in detail in the 2009 Annual Report. Industry has already played a fundamental role in the establishment and evolution of CASA with industrial partners and the Industry Advisory Board supporting our activities in a variety of ways. This special funding opportunity will allow us to engage industry in more direct, effective and innovative ways in the CASA enterprise. In particular, it will give us the opportunity to bring industrial personnel on the campuses to work closely with academic researchers and students on research projects and our test beds. It will also allow us to bring industrial processes and practices into the classroom. We propose to hire a full-time Research Engineer and several part-time Professors of Practice and Innovation as described below:Research Engineer: Hire a Research Engineer who will work as part of the CASA team to enhance the future development and expansion of our IP1 test bed. This will enable the direct transfer of modern industrial practices and knowhow into CASA designs and operations.Professors of Practice and Innovation: Hire several industry experts who can: 1) educate academic researchers and students on how to successfully transfer technology to the marketplace; 2) provide instruction in state-of-the-art industrial principles and practices that support CASA research and educational activities in systems engineering; and 3) help establish systems engineering academic offerings.Intellectual Merit: The addition of the Research and Engineer and the Professors of Practice and Innovation will play a vital role in both CASA's research and educational activities. The close interaction of experienced industry personnel with faculty and students will improve the development of our test beds, enhance the development of our academic offerings and assist with the translation of our prototype test beds for government and industry use.Broader Impacts: CASA is poised to make fundamental contributions to the observation, forecasting, warning and response to hazardous weather events. This work can potentially have a very significant positive impact on society by protecting lives, minimizing injuries and improving the quality of life.